Northwestern Picks Up First Win

After a pair of season opening losses in the Arcanum Tip-Off tournament, Northwestern got on the winning track last week, as they defeated Southeastern 39-32 in their home opener.

Audrey Nourse led the Warriors with 13 points, while Miranda Gillman added 10 as the Warriors (1-2) jumped in front by 11 points at the half, and held on in the fourth quarter to gain their win.

“We never trailed in the game, and they made it closer than it actually was with a couple of running shots late in the game,” Northwestern coach Aaron Stewart said. “We were 5-11 at the free throw line.”

“It was a great team effort and defensively we played better. Everyone contributed tonight, it was a big win for us, playing without our starting point guard.”

Northwestern built a 10-1 lead in the first four minutes of the game, as four different Warrior players scored including threes from Rachel White and Bry White. After a small Southeastern run in the final two minutes of the quarter, they cut the Northwestern lead to 12-7 after the opening period.

Gillman hit a pair of big shots to open the second period as Northwestern built their lead to 21-7 late in the first half, but the Warriors were held scoreless over the final 2:18 of the first half, but held onto a 21-10 halftime lead.

The Trojans kept fighting back as they held Northwestern off the board for the first four minutes of the third period, as they got back into the game trailing 21-16, but Nourse and White each hit midrange shots to push their lead back out to 11 points.

Northwestern led 31-20 after three, and survived a tough fourth to gain the win.

*The Northwestern boys’ basketball team opened their season last weekend with a road game at Miami East on Friday night, then returned home for the home opener against Greeneview on Saturday night.

The Warriors led Miami East 19-10 after one period but saw their lead trimmed to 27-26 at the half. The Vikings battled to take the lead heading to the fourth period, where they held on for a 67-60 victory over the Warriors.

On Saturday night, the Warriors jumped in front 35-26 at the half, and led by 15 points in the second half before Cedarville came back to take the game into overtime. With the game tied in the final seconds, Northwestern connected on a three to earn a 58-55 victory to even their record on the young season at 1-1 overall.